Falcon Wild

by Terry Lynn Johnson

  Being weird is much better when there’s someone to be weird with.

  As we drive toward Free Hold, it feels right to have Cooper by my side. This land is somehow ours. We know it too well. Rolling hills, baked brown and dotted with sagebrush. A pronghorn watches us go by. The sun hangs cheerily above the ever-present mountain range in the distance.

  When we make our stop, the four of us stand on the road, shielding our eyes.

  I pull on my gauntlet and picture Stark soaring high, far from here.

  She could be anywhere. What would make her stay in this area? Even though she’s an imprint, and trained to a lure, being in the wild this long might’ve awakened all her instincts by now. She learned to hunt. She can survive out here without me. Right?

  Aunt Amy hands me the lure. Cooper unlatches Stark’s empty box and looks to the sky. Dad leans into his cane and gives me a nod.

  I take a deep breath and swing the lure high. I whistle with everything I have, hoping that all my love for Stark will flow out of me and she’ll hear and know it. The lure keeps swinging as I search the sky.

  Please choose me, Stark. Please.

  And then a shadow passes over.

  Falcon Wild is a story in keeping with what I love to write about—gritty outdoor adventure and the realistic portrayal of the special relationships humans can form with animals.

  I do not have years of personal experience as a falconer. What I do have is an intense fascination with the sport of falconry and the people who devote their lives to it. Falconry isn’t just a sport, but a lifestyle. It requires incredible amounts of time, resources, and patience. It’s also uncommonly rewarding—allowing humans to work closely with an animal and forge a bond.

  I admire the men and women who choose to follow their passion, and I’m grateful for the support and assistance of those who answered this newbie’s naive questions.

  The challenge of writing Falcon Wild was to stay true to the details of modern-day falconry, while crafting satisfying storylines and characters. In creating this story, I chose to alter common practices for effect in a few scenes.

  For example, in the first chapter Stark bites Karma after her hood comes off. Normally this only happens in the context of food. If a falconer is taking food away, a poorly trained falcon may bite.

  Additionally, in the story Stark’s owner does not contact Karma’s family for months after she goes missing. In reality, falconers are normally vigilant about where their birds are. A missing raptor picked up by another falconer can often be sorted out quickly through the identification band that all raptors carry. Of course there are exceptions, as displayed in my fictional story.

  Lastly, the hunting scenes with Stark may give the impression that it is relatively easy for a raptor to take down game. But it takes practice for this kind of partnership to work. And in real life, a successful hunt is not measured in game taken but by how well the raptor flew.

  For more information, I suggest the following websites:

  International Association of Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey

  http://www.iaf.org/​index.php

  The Modern Apprentice

  http://www.themodernapprentice.com/​index.htm

  North American Falconers Association

  http://www.n-a-f-a.com

  Ontario Hawking Club

  http://www.ontariohawkingclub.org

  Thank you to my dear critique partners, Amy Fellner Dominy, Marcia Wells, and Sylvia Musgrove, for eagle-eyed, multiple readings. And to my early readers, Helen Landalf, Tess Hilmo, Kristin Lenz, Sara Bennett Wealer, and particularly Kathy McCullough, who kept me on track each Sunday. Thank you to Jackie White for being there to read every single thing I write. And to Jody Kyburz, Olivia Countryman, and Madison Countryman for taking the time to provide feedback.

  Special thanks go to my technical advisers, who patiently answered questions and tried to explain the finer nuances of falconry: Gary Selinger, falconer; Matt Lieberknecht, master falconer; and Maya Basdeo, falconer and conservation and outreach liaison with the Ontario Hawking Club. I’m so grateful to these kind people who helped me infuse my story with accuracy and authenticity. (Matt even let me fly his gyr.) Any errors in this story are mine alone.